Ice maker assembly

ABSTRACT

In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, an ice maker assembly for a refrigerator freezer compartment having a wall with a capturing element is described. The ice maker assembly has a body that includes an ice mold for receiving water and freezing water to ice. The ice mold has a first side surface, a second side surface, and a bottom surface interposed between the first side surface and the second side surface. The ice maker assembly further includes a mounting feature, the mounting feature being present on the body and being configured to be seated on the corresponding refrigerator freezer compartment capturing element. The ice maker assembly also includes a fastening feature and a fastener being located either generally planar with the ice mold or below the ice mold, the fastening feature and fastener being configured to attach the body to the wall.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to an ice maker assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A conventional automatic ice maker assembly in a residentialrefrigerator has three major subsystems: an ice maker, a bucket with anauger and ice crusher, and a dispenser insert in the freezer door thatallows the ice to be delivered from the bucket to a cup without openingthe door.

The ice maker includes a body or ice tray including an ice mold forreceiving water and freezing the water to ice. When the ice cubes areready for removal, a motor drives a rake in an angular motion to pushthe cubes out of the ice tray. Mounting fasteners are provided on theice tray for mounting the ice maker within a freezer compartment of therefrigerator. Mounting fasteners are typically located above the icemaker body.

Unfortunately, the use and location of mounting fasteners can beproblematic. For instance, such mounting fasteners can fall into the icemaker body during manufacturing and/or use of the ice maker and resultin malfunction of the ice maker by causing jams of the ice maker rake.

Accordingly, an ice maker assembly that includes a mounting system thatovercomes the deficiencies of present mounting fasteners would bedesirable. A refrigerator incorporating such an ice maker assembly wouldbe particularly beneficial.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in part inthe following description, or may be obvious from the description, ormay be learned through practice of the disclosure.

In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, an ice maker assemblyfor a refrigerator freezer compartment having a wall with a capturingelement is described. The ice maker assembly has a body that includes anice mold for receiving water and freezing water to ice. The ice mold hasa first side surface, a second side surface, and a bottom surfaceinterposed between the first side surface and the second side surface.The ice maker assembly further includes a mounting feature, the mountingfeature being present on the body and being configured to be seated onthe corresponding refrigerator freezer compartment capturing element.The ice maker assembly also includes a fastening feature and a fastenerbeing located either generally planar with the ice mold or below the icemold, the fastening feature and fastener being configured to attach thebody to the wall.

In still other embodiments of the present disclosure, a refrigerator isdescribed. The refrigerator includes a freezer compartment having a wallwith a capturing element and an ice maker assembly. The ice makerassembly has a body including an ice mold for receiving water andfreezing water to ice. The ice mold has a first side surface, a secondside surface, and a bottom surface interposed between the first sidesurface and the second side surface. The ice maker assembly furtherincludes a mounting feature, the mounting feature being present on thebody and being seated on the corresponding refrigerator freezercompartment capturing element. The ice maker assembly also has afastening feature and a fastener being located either generally planarwith the ice mold or below the ice mold, the fastening feature andfastener attaching the body to the wall.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentdisclosure will become better understood with reference to the followingdescription and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which areincorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrateembodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serveto explain the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full and enabling disclosure, including the best mode thereof,directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in thespecification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an automatic icemaker andrefrigerator wall in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of ice maker shown in FIG. 1 inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the icemaker of FIG. 1 inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of an automatic icemaker in accordancewith certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5A is a front view of an ice maker attached to a refrigerator wallin accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5B is a partial front view of the ice maker attached to arefrigerator wall shown in FIG. 5A in accordance with certain aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a front view of an automatic icemaker and refrigerator wall inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to an ice maker assembly for arefrigerator. The ice maker assembly includes a mounting element that isconfigured to be seated on the corresponding refrigerator freezercompartment wall cleat. In this manner, the ice maker assembly of thepresent disclosure greatly reduces the chance that a fastener will fallinto the ice maker assembly during manufacturing and/or use. Referencenow will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or moreexamples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example isprovided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of theinvention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious modifications and variations can be made in the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.For instance, features illustrated or described as part of oneembodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still furtherembodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers suchmodifications and variations as come within the scope of the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, ice maker 100 in accordance with thepresent disclosure is illustrated. Specifically, FIG. 1 illustrates aperspective view of ice maker 100 adjacent to refrigerator compartmentwall 204 prior to being installed in refrigerator compartment. FIG. 2illustrates a cross-sectional view of ice maker 100 installed inrefrigerator compartment 200, such as a freezer compartment, on wall204. The ice maker 10 comprises a body or ice tray 102 including an icemold or ice forming compartment 104 for receiving water and freezing thewater to ice. As shown, the ice tray 102 includes seven substantiallyidentical ice forming compartments; although, it should be appreciatedthat more or less than seven ice forming compartments can be provided.It should also be appreciated that while one exemplary type of ice makeris illustrated (a so-called crescent cube variety of ice maker), anysuitable ice maker including a twist tray type, can be utilized inconnection with the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment,each ice forming compartment 104 includes a first side surface 110, asecond side surface 112, and an arcuate bottom surface 114 interposedbetween the first side surface and the second side surface. Partitionwalls 120 are disposed between each of the compartments, the partitionswalls at least partially defining the first side surface and second sidesurface. The partition walls 120 extend transversely across the ice tray102 to define the ice forming compartments 104 in which ice pieces (notshown) are formed. Each partition 120 wall includes a recessed upperedge portion 132 through which water flows successively through each iceforming compartment 104 to fill the ice tray 102 with water. A waterfilling operation of the ice tray may be based on a set time.

As shown in FIG. 3, a sheathed electrical resistance heating element orheater 150 is mounted to a lower portion 152 of the ice tray 102. Theheater can be press-fit, stacked, and/or clamped into the lower portionof the ice tray. The heater is configured to heat the ice mold when aharvest cycle is executed to slightly melt the ice 130 and release theice from the ice forming compartments 104.

An ice ejector or rake 170 is rotatably connected to the ice tray 102.The ice ejector includes an axle or shaft 172 and a plurality of ejectormembers 174 located in a common plane tangent to the axle, one ejectormember 174 for each ice forming compartment 104. The axle is concentricabout the longitudinal axis of rotation of the ice ejector. To rotatablymount the ice ejector to the ice tray, a first end section 176 of theice ejector is positioned adjacent an opening 180 located a first endportion 182 of the ice tray. A second end section 184 of the ice ejectoris positioned in an arcuate recess 186 located on a second end portion188 of the ice tray. In the illustrated embodiment, the ejector members174 are triangular shaped projections 190 and are configured to extendfrom the axle 172 into the ice forming compartments 104 when the iceejector is rotated. It is within the scope of the present disclosure forthe ejector members to be fingers, shafts or other structures extendingradially beyond the outer walls of the axle. The ice ejector 170 isrotatably relative to the ice tray from a closed first position to asecond ice harvesting position and back to the closed position. Rotationof the ice ejector causes the ejector members 174 to advance into theice forming compartment 104 whereby ice 130 located in each ice formingcompartment is urged in an ejection path of movement out of the iceforming compartment.

Referring again to FIG. 1, mounting elements 206, 208 are joined to icemaker body 102 and assist to attach ice maker body 102 to wall 204.Mounting elements 206, 208 are provided on the ice maker body formounting the ice maker 100 within a freezer compartment (not shown) ofthe refrigerator. In this regard, mounting elements 206, 208 can beseated on cleats 210, 212 of wall 204. Ice maker 100 can be attached towall without the necessity for any separate anchoring. The weight of icemaker 100 can, in part, be supported by cleats 210, 212 through mountingelements 206, 208 to hold ice maker 100 in place on wall 204. Though twomounting elements and two cleats are illustrated, any suitable number ofmounting elements and cleats can be utilized, such as one or moremounting elements and/or one or more corresponding cleats. Asillustrated, cleats 210, 212 are hooks but any suitable cleat elementcan be utilized to seat mounting elements thereon. In addition, cleats210, 212 can be of any suitable size so as to interface properly withmounting elements 206, 208.

Turning to FIG. 4, mounting elements 206, 208 are positioned planar withor above bottom surface 114 of ice forming compartment 104. Again, sinceno separate anchoring to attach ice maker 100 to wall 204 is present ornecessary above ice forming compartment 104, there is less chance offoreign material falling into ice forming compartment and causingmalfunction of the same. Mounting elements 206, 208 can be of anysuitable shape or size to interface with cleats 210, 212. For instance,as illustrated in FIG. 4, mounting elements 206, 208 can each defineopenings 214, 216 that substantially surround a respective cleat whensuch mounting element is seated on the cleat.

Alternatively, it should be appreciated that other suitable mountingelements can be utilized that are within the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure. For example, referring to FIG. 6, ice maker body candefine one or more slots 300, 302 that can interface with one or morerails 304, 306 positioned on wall 204. In this manner, body can slidehorizontally into a freezer compartment along rails. The body can alsoinclude one or more vertical ribs 308 that interface with one or moreslots 310 on wall 204 to ensure proper alignment. One or more rails andslots are positioned planar with or above bottom surface 114 of iceforming compartment 104.

It is within the scope of the disclosure for other anchoring features tobe present on the ice maker 100 and for those anchoring features tofacilitate attachment of the ice maker into the refrigerator. However,such anchoring features can be present planar with or below ice formingcompartment to reduce the likelihood of foreign material falling intoice forming compartment. For instance, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5A, anice maker 100 is illustrated attached to wall 204 in refrigeratorcompartment 200. Although not visible, mounting elements 206, 208 areseated on cleats 210, 212 of wall 204. In addition, a tab 218 is presenton the bottom portion of ice maker body 102. Tab 218 defines an opening226 that can allow a fastener to pass therethrough and be attached intowall 204. For example, tab 218 can have a screw 220 pass therethrough.In this manner, although ice maker 100 can be mounted to wall 204 bymounting elements 206, 208 seated on cleats 210, 212, tab 218 can ensurethat ice maker 100 is permanently fixed in place. Any suitable fasteneris contemplated by the present disclosure including a screw, pin, nail,rivet, or the like. In addition, tab 218 can be of any suitable shape orsize and one or more tabs can be present. Similarly, FIG. 7 illustratestwo tabs 312, 314 that define openings 316, 318 respectively. Tabs 312,314 218 can ensure that ice maker 100 is permanently fixed in place inthe same manner as previously described with respect to tab 218 in FIG.5A.

Turning to FIG. 5B, a close-up view of tab 218 on wall 204 isillustrated. Wall 204 can include one or more guide elements such asribs 222 on the surface of wall 204. Wall can also define an opening 228that can accommodate a fastener, such as a threaded opening. Such ribs222 can ensure that tab 218 is properly aligned with wall 204 opening226 of tab and opening 228 of wall allowing a fastener to passtherethrough. In addition, ribs 222 can ensure that mounting elements206, 208 of ice maker 100 are seated properly on cleats 210, 212.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the invention, including making and using any devices orsystems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope ofthe invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examplesthat occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intendedto be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elementsthat do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if theyinclude equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differencesfrom the literal languages of the claims.

1. An ice maker assembly for a refrigerator freezer compartment having awall with a capturing element, the ice maker assembly comprising: a bodyincluding an ice mold for receiving water and freezing water to ice, theice mold having a first side surface, a second side surface, and abottom surface interposed between the first side surface and the secondside surface; a mounting feature, the mounting feature being present onthe body and being configured to be seated on the correspondingrefrigerator freezer compartment capturing element; and a fasteningfeature and a fastener being located either generally planar with theice mold or below the ice mold, the fastening feature and fastener beingconfigured to attach the body to the wall.
 2. An ice maker assembly asin claim 1, wherein the mounting feature is located either generallyplanar with the ice mold or above the ice mold.
 3. An ice maker assemblyas in claim 1, wherein the capturing element comprises a hook and themounting feature is configured to be seated on such hook.
 4. An icemaker assembly as in claim 1, wherein the mounting feature defines anopening that substantially surrounds the capturing element.
 5. An icemaker assembly as in claim 1, further comprising a second mountingfeature present on the body and a second capturing element on therefrigerator freezer compartment wall, wherein the second mountingfeature is configured to be seated on the corresponding refrigeratorfreezer compartment wall second capturing element.
 6. An ice makerassembly as in claim 1, wherein the capturing element comprises a railand the mounting feature comprises a groove defined by the body, thegroove being configured to be seated on such rail.
 7. An ice makerassembly as in claim 1, wherein the fastening feature defines an openingand the fastener comprises a screw.
 8. An ice maker assembly as in claim1, wherein the fastening feature defines an opening and the fastenercomprises a rivet.
 9. An ice maker assembly as in claim 1, wherein thefastening feature defines an opening.
 10. An ice maker assembly as inclaim 9, wherein the fastener comprises a screw, pin, nail, or rivet.11. A refrigerator comprising: a freezer compartment having a wall witha capturing element; and an ice maker assembly comprising: a bodyincluding an ice mold for receiving water and freezing water to ice, theice mold having a first side surface, a second side surface, and abottom surface interposed between the first side surface and the secondside surface; a mounting feature, the mounting feature being present onthe body and being seated on the corresponding refrigerator freezercompartment capturing element; and a fastening feature and a fastenerbeing located either generally planar with the ice mold or below the icemold, the fastening feature and fastener attaching the body to the wall.12. A refrigerator as in claim 11, wherein the mounting feature islocated either generally planar with the ice mold or above the ice mold.13. A refrigerator as in claim 11, wherein the capturing elementcomprises a hook and the mounting feature is seated on such hook.
 14. Arefrigerator as in claim 11, wherein the mounting feature defines anopening that substantially surrounds the capturing element.
 15. Arefrigerator as in claim 11, further comprising a second mountingfeature present on the body and a second capturing element on therefrigerator freezer compartment wall, wherein the second mountingfeature is seated on the corresponding refrigerator freezer compartmentwall second capturing element.
 16. A refrigerator as in claim 11,wherein the capturing element comprises a rail and the mounting featurecomprises a groove defined by the body, the groove being seated on suchrail.
 17. A refrigerator as in claim 11, wherein the fastening featuredefines an opening and the fastener comprises a screw.
 18. Arefrigerator as in claim 11, wherein the fastening feature defines anopening and the fastener comprises a rivet.
 19. A refrigerator as inclaim 11, wherein the fastening feature defines an opening.
 20. Arefrigerator as in claim 11, wherein the refrigerator freezercompartment wall defines guide ribs on either side of the fasteningfeature.